


Say You Like Me

by definitely_yesterday



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: .....eventually, Bonkai, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Hahaha no such luck, Not Beta Read, Right?, bonnie feels...something, but it is planned, easy peasy, he thinks she likes him back, kai likes bonnie, kai parker - Freeform, no fluff at first, now they just have to tell each other they feel stuff for each other, there is a swear or two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7483071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/definitely_yesterday/pseuds/definitely_yesterday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three-shot inspired by the song 'Say You Like Me' by We The Kings. Bonnie and Kai have been hanging out for months and have slowly become friends. However, Kai wants to be more than friends and is unsure of how Bonnie feels. He decides it's time to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Pre-"You Wanna Go...On A Date With Me" for those who read my other Bonkai fics.

Bonnie shut the front door and turned away rubbing her clothed arms as if she was cold. Tears were prickling in her eyes. She glanced around her living room and started towards the coffee table. She grabbed her empty glass and Kai’s empty can of ginger ale. She sniffled and headed towards the kitchen. She placed the glass in the sink and tossed the can in the trash can. She placed her hands on a nearby counter and let her head droop. She rubbed a hand over her face and let out a shuddery breath. The night had been going so well.

* * *

She and Kai had been having one of their semi-regular movie nights, when the last movie they decided on ended. She had stared numbly at the Netflix menu screen signaling the end of the short film. Kai had said, “Well? What did you think?”

Bonnie turned to face the smiling coven leader. His smile faltered at her expression.

“No?” Kai asked, “Not even the least bit amusing?”

Bonnie pressed her lips and settled further under his arm that was draped around her shoulder.

“Well, it sure was…” Bonnie started.

Kai started to smile again and Bonnie nibbled her lip, “Something?”

Kai frowned, “Something?”

Bonnie leaned forward, grabbed the now empty bowl of popcorn, stood, and said, “Mhm.”

“So are we talking a good something,” Kai stood following her to the kitchen, “or a bad something?”

Bonnie placed the popcorn bowl in the sink and turned to look at Kai, “There were laser raptors.”

Kai nodded.

“Thor and Hitler were also in that same movie,” Bonnie continued.

“Well, yeah…” Kai said.

“All I can honestly say is that it was something,” Bonnie replied.

“A short something,” she said, “that you made me watch with my own two eyes.”

Kai furrowed his brows, “You didn’t like it, did you?”

Bonnie sighed, “I appreciated its humor, but I won’t be watching it again.”

Kai shifted jaw and nodded his head, “Tough crowd for _Kung Fury_.”

“Maybe we should’ve watched _Knights of Badassdom_ ,” he said wistfully.

Bonnie gave a little laugh and said, “Yeah, sure.”

Kai nodded again, looking deep in thought. He then headed towards the door where his shoes were situated. As he was slipping on a boot, he glanced at Bonnie. She was looking back into the living room towards a window. He licked his lips and tried to decide if now was the time to ask Bonnie out was. Like on an official date. They had been hanging out more and more often over the past several months. Kai had been persistent in trying to get the Bennett witch to spend time with him. The longer they had been hanging out, the closer they were getting.

* * *

If you had asked Kai months ago if he thought Bonnie would allow him to ever casually put his arm around her or to hug her, he would’ve laughed. However, after a few unsuccessful attempts, she was now allowing those things. The first time Bonnie had let him to drape his arm around her shoulders, they had been laughing while watching _This Is The End_. He had put his arm around her shoulder and slightly pulled her close to him while laughing into her hair. It had been one of the few times he had the fortune of enjoying the sweet scent of her shampoo. He had also gotten the chance to feel her laughing into his chest and clutching him with each wave of laughter. After that night, Kai occasionally would sneak his arm around her and she didn’t stiffen or glare at him like she used to.

Bonnie had even initiated the first real hug they shared. That particular night, Kai had just shown up with a backpack full of candy, wine, and movies that he said he had never see and they just _needed_ to watch. The coven leader had strode into her apartment after she opened the door while saying, “So I know you wanted me to bring some of those chocolate covered raisins, but hear me out-”

After closing the door, Bonnie had thrown her arms around Kai’s neck and hugged him. He grunted in surprise and wrapped his arms around her. After a moment, Bonnie loosened her grip and pulled away to scowl at him.

“I wanted to get one final hug from you before I destroy you for not bringing my Raisinettes,” Bonnie said.

Kai, relishing the grip Bonnie had on him, gave her a cocky smile, “There is no need for you to crime of passion me, Bennett.”

Bonnie pulled out of his arms, crossed her arms, and raised her eyebrows in question. He slipped a strap of his backpack off his shoulder and pulled it in front of him. He unzipped one of the pockets and pulled out a small box.

“Since you love chocolate so much, especially when it’s covering something else,” Kai spoke again.

Kai gestured, waving the box, “Well, not like broccoli, but like fruits. Oh! And-”

As Kai was talking, Bonnie snatched the box out of his hands, and threw up a barrier spell that formed a four foot bubble all around her. Since Kai had been close, he was knocked slightly backwards and stumbled. He gaped at the witch and asked, “What was that?”

Bonnie ignored him and used her nails to break through the tape holding the lid to the box. Kai walked quickly forward. He had planned on quickly snatching the box from her and finishing his story but he bounced off an invisible wall.

Kai laughed in disbelief and pressed his hand against the barrier, “Seriously?”

Bonnie had pulled the lid off.

“You couldn’t wait for me to finish talking?” Kai asked as he siphoned the magical barrier.

“Oh my god!”

Kai looked up at Bonnie’s face. She was beaming down at the box and he felt his own smile widen.

Bonnie clutched the box to her chest and asked, “Chocolate covered strawberries AND cherries?”

Kai shrugged and nodded, still smiling. The squealing noise Bonnie had made was deafening but satisfying. That night Kai got his second hug from the remarkable, beautiful witch.

* * *

Kai managed to slip on his other boot while thinking back on the closeness he shared with Bonnie. He straightened up and turned to face the green-eyed woman. Kai cleared his throat and she looked at him and smiled softly. She took a few steps towards him and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“The mix of movies tonight was…interesting,” Bonnie said.

Kai chuckled and looked over her head, “Listen, I don’t care what you say, but _Lilo and Stitch_ and _Kung Fury_ were excellent pairings.”

Bonnie snorted, “Really now?”

Kai gave her a flabbergasted look, “Um, yeah!”

“Stitch and Kung Fury are both in unknown places trying to save said unknown worlds,” he continued.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what _Lilo and Stitch_ was about exactly…” Bonnie said trailing off.

Kai waved his hand, “I chose these movies because of their similar causes to saving worlds that weren’t necessarily their own. Similar themes.”

Bonnie frowned, “But Kung Fury was in the same world, for the most part. I mean he went into the past to save his wor-”

Kai waved his hand, “Semantics.”

“Semantics,” Bonnie said dully.

“Semantics,” he repeated.

The Bennett witch bit her lip to keep from laughing and rubbed her tired eyes, “Okay, Kai.”

Kai nodded at her, “Anyway…”

Bonnie took another step forward. Kai did a quick nervous glance around the entrance and living room.

“I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner and maybe see a movie soon-” Kai said.

Bonnie replied, “Yeah, sure! There’s this place I heard about from Caroline-”

“Like on a date?” Kai continued looking back at her.

Bonnie’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She worked her tongue loose and tried to imagine her favorite foods to produce saliva.

Kai’s smile wavered as he took in the stunned look on her face, “I mean I like you. A lot. And I think you may like me?”

Bonnie continued to work her tongue and thought about chocolate, praying for more saliva to present itself so she could speak. When she didn’t respond, Kai continued speaking.

“I just mean that maybe, if you like me and this isn’t uncomfortable for you…”

Kai paused and gave a nervous laugh, “I mean it’s probably gonna be uncomfortable because, ya know, the crossbow on my part and the stabbiness on both our parts-”

Bonnie’s mouth had finally moistened enough for speech, “I can’t,” she replied briskly.

Kai hesitated, “Oh? Uh, okay.”

He jammed his hands into his pockets then turned stiffly towards the front door, grasped the door knob, and turned it. As he stepped out of the apartment he said, “Well, good night, Bon,” then closed the door behind him.

* * *

Kai was standing outside of the closed door of Bonnie’s apartment. He was frustrated. He had been standing there for what seemed like a decade before he turned to knock on the door. He laid his right hand against the door and then leaned his forehead against his hand. Bonnie had been increasingly close and affectionate with him. She had shared things that even she said few people knew. However, the few times Kai had leaned in for a kiss, Bonnie had halted him. The first time, Bonnie had slipped from his arms then ran her hands through her hair saying to let her know when he made it back to the hotel safe. Kai was a patient man. Usually. But Bonnie Bennett had gotten under his skin. In many ways she showed that she was interested in him. She would often cuddle against him or wrap her arms around him and laugh into his chest or neck. However, kissing and handholding seemed to be no-gos for her.

She was driving him crazy. If she wanted to only be friends he’d take it, but if she wanted to try to be more he’d pounce on that opportunity. The problem was he didn’t know what she wanted. As Kai thought through the attempts he made to try to get Bonnie to talk about how she felt regarding their friendship or how she felt about him, he felt his exasperation grow.

Kai lifted his head from his hand and slid his hand down and away from the door. He straightened and knocked.

* * *

Bonnie had let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, stepped towards her front door, and secured the security chain. She had her hand on the bolt lock when there was knocking at the door. Bonnie’s hand hesitated then she reached and removed the security chain.

When Bonnie opened the door, she saw Kai clutching the top of the door frame. When she glanced down from his toned arms and to his unfairly handsome face. He was frowning and she felt her stomach sink. Kai rarely frowned genuinely. He would occasionally sulk in an exaggerated manner for humor but this…This was not one of those. His furrowed eyebrows accompanied the downward turn of his mouth. Bonnie felt herself start to frown too then quickly pulled her face into a small smile.

“Did you forget something?” she asked, crossing her arms and cocking her hip.

“What does ‘I can’t’ mean?” Kai asked immediately.

Bonnie found her mouth start to get dry once again, “Kai-”

He pressed his lips together, “You like hanging out with me, right?”

Bonnie eyed him warily and said, “I wouldn’t be hanging out with you if I didn’t like to.”

Kai nodded, looked away, and then back at Bonnie.

“So, you don’t feel forced to spend time with me?” Kai asked.

It was Bonnie’s turn to frown. She replied perplexed, “Huh? Forced? No, what is-”

“So,” Kai tried again, “what did you mean by ‘I can’t’?”

Bonnie shifted her weight from one foot to the other and looked away from him. That was the question, wasn’t it? Her response was a knee-jerk reaction and she wasn’t quite sure where it came from. Why _couldn’t_ she go on a date with Kai? She wasn’t uncomfortable with him anymore. Well, at least not in the fear-for-her-life sort of way. She knew she felt something beyond friendship for him. That realization had come to her weeks ago and she had spent that time trying to squelch those feelings. Those feelings that were at odds with her reservations about the Gemini coven leader. Bonnie had boxed up both those thoughts and feelings and locked them away without analyzing them too closely. Now he was, essentially, asking her to open that box and make sense of its contents. Bonnie looked into Kai’s eyes then quickly away from his intense gaze. She wiped her sweating hands onto her jeans.

“I don’t know,” Bonnie finally responded and peeked at Kai’s face.

She saw a range of emotions cross his face before he fixed his face to neutral.

Kai pushed off the door frame and said numbly, “You don’t know?”

Bonnie licked her lips and started, “It’s not something-”

She paused. She had been about to say that it wasn’t something she had thought about; however, that wasn’t exactly true, was it? Kai continued to stare at her, waiting for an answer. When she didn’t continue speaking, Kai sighed and said, “Alright. Let’s try another question.”

“Do you have feelings for me?” he asked.

Bonnie felt an irrational flash of irritation. _What was this? 20 questions?_ she thought. She crossed her arms again and clenched her jaw.

“I have lots of feeling about you, Kai,” she said rigidly.

Kai raised his eyebrows.

“For instance, I’m feeling very annoyed that you think you can grill me-”

“Grill you?” Kai said bemused tone, “I’m not-”

He stopped, shook his head, and gave a short humorless laugh, “Nice. Deflecting then putting me on the defensive. Nice, Bon Bon.”

Bonnie pressed her lips into a thin line and remained silent.

Kai leaned forward with his hands braced on the sides of the door frame. He stared at the Bennett witch intently then asked, “Is there a reason why _you’re_ being so defensive?”

“I’m _not_ being defensive. I just-” she started, “You know what? I’m not doing this.”

“What? Not talking about how you feel about me or about why you’re suddenly defensive?” Kai teased.

When Bonnie glowered at him, Kai huffed and pushed away from the door frame.

“Bonnie, will you just talk to me?” he asked.

“Kai,” she stated, “I said I’m not doing this.”

Kai searched her unsmiling face. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, willing himself to not get angry no matter how infuriatingly icy Bonnie seemed to be behaving. Kai opened his eyes and searched her face again. She raised her eyebrows at him, as if asking if he was done wasting her time.

“If you don’t have feelings for me say so,” Kai said.

“It’s not that-” Bonnie said weakly.

“If you like me then say you like me, Bonnie!” he said in frustration.

Bonnie flinched and said, “I can’t-”

“Right. Of course, you can’t” Kai interjected.

Bonnie frowned, “I meant that-”

Kai interrupted her again saying, “I don’t think I can- we probably shouldn’t spend time together for a while.”

Bonnie felt her stomach drop. _He didn’t want to see her for a while? How long was awhile?_ She thought.

“Good night, Bonnie,” he said then turned away from her apartment.

Bonnie felt like her body was frozen as she watched him turn the corner towards her apartment building elevator. Once she completely registered what had just happened, she quickly walked after him in bare feet. She caught him as he stood in front of the elevator.

“Kai!” she called out. She saw his shoulders tense but he didn’t turn around.

Bonnie stood a couple feet behind him unsure of what to say. She watched as the elevator slowly got closer to her floor. She licked her lips and asked uncertainly, “Maybe we can talk this weekend about all of this? Like Friday, we could grab coffee or something…”

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Kai stepped into the cab and turned to press the button to go to the lobby. When he meet Bonnie’s eyes, he said evenly, “I can’t.”

Bonnie felt her throat tighten and looked away as the doors slid shut.

* * *

 _The night been going so well_ , Bonnie thought again. She pushed away from the kitchen counter. _If you like me, then say you like me, Bonnie!_ She heard Kai’s voice again in her head. She got in the shower trying to wash away the bad memories of the night’s events. As she stood in the shower, she insisted to herself that the only water on her face was due to the steady stream from the shower head and not from her traitorous eyes.

* * *

Kai had been clenching his jaw since he got onto the elevator in Bonnie’s apartment building. Now he was back at his hotel room lying in the dark on his bed. He kept shifting his jaw to relieve some of the ache in it and the resulting headache. Kai wasn’t sure exactly how that had gone so poorly so quickly. Maybe he shouldn’t have pushed and just left at the first good night. Part of him felt that he let his frustration get the best of him and he was too aggressive in his attempt to figure out what was going on between him and Bonnie. Another part of him wondered why she couldn’t just tell him outright how she felt about him. Bonnie wasn’t one to coddle him. She was often brutally honest with him, so she wasn’t trying to spare his feelings. Kai frowned. Why had she gotten so agitated when he asked about her feelings? She had eventually revealed that it wasn’t that she didn’t have feelings for him but she also didn’t say she did.

Kai sighed and tried to relax his body in an attempt to sleep. He had decided to check out of the hotel in the morning and head back to Portland. He wasn’t expected back for a few days but he decided that he would spend time focusing on coven business instead of solving the puzzle that was Bonnie Bennett for a while. God knows the Gemini council was more than a little suspicious about the ‘coven business’ in Virginia that he insisted only he needed to handle. It wasn’t a _complete_ lie. The best lies held some truth to them. He was dealing with coven business, of sorts. Mostly wrangling his siblings to take their places among the Gemini witches which he was slowly but surely making progress towards. As Kai started falling asleep, the image of Bonnie’s hurt expression as the elevator doors closed drifted into view. His eyes popped open, he groaned, and rolled over to lie face down on the bed. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Not beta read, so any spelling or grammatical errors you find are because I am a flawed, flawed human being. 
> 
> Additional author's note: It looks like there will be 3 parts to this fic. I decided to try to explore things a little then break it up a bit more. I hope you like it!

It proved to be a series of long nights for Kai. Five weeks of sleepless nights. Any sleep he had managed to get was for only a couple of hours and was the result of three or four days without _any_ sleep. His body essentially would shut down. He had, on a couple occasions, fallen asleep at his desk at Gemini coven headquarters. Once he even fell asleep during a meeting with the council, which did not go over well. At that time, his advisor and twin, Josette Saltzman had dug her elbow into his ribs. He awoke with a start and looked around blearily at the faces of the Gemini coven council members. A few looked aggravated (mostly senior members who aided in his imprisonment in 1994 and opposed his leading of the coven) while others had seemed amused (including his twin and members of his generation or younger).

When Kai hadn’t immediately spoken, Jo had smiled and said, “Unfortunately, due to the inundation of council meetings and other council business Kai has had to attend to, our coven leader has obviously not gotten much sleep.”

A hushed ripple of laughter emanated around the conference table and Jo continued speaking, “Given that the current subject does not need to be immediately addressed, I would suggest we reconvene on this topic at the next meeting in two days.”

Jo had looked at Kai for confirmation. Without looking at his advisor, Kai nodded in agreement. He gave a slight smile, “We’ll continue this discussion after I’ve had a good night’s sleep or two.”

“Given what we’ve managed to accomplish this evening, I’m confident that this matter will be settled at the next meeting,” he finished.

With that, the meeting had ended. Some council members had eyed him with distrust but the majority had quickly shuffled out, eager to get home. After that meeting, Jo had insisted that he owed her a favor. Kai had looked at her warily and asked her what her favor was. Jo had just gathered her notepad, cell phone, and purse, shrugged and smiled brightly, “I’ll let you know when the time comes.”

That certainly hadn’t calm Kai’s nerves. Despite all of this, Kai had managed to keep himself from contacting Bonnie despite his urges to wish her good morning or good afternoon. Give a good night call. Or even wish her a happy hump day via text accompanied with some stupid cartoon or gif. Kai had tried not to harp on the events that occurred in Bonnie’s apartment over a month ago. He had, in fact, been very productive in addressing issues within the Gemini coven. His induction had occurred months ago but he had finally finalized his Gemini council three weeks ago.

His father, Joshua Parker, had not been pleased to not have a seat on the council and to not be his personal advisor. He heard whispers that some senior coven members, who Kai had put on his council, weren’t so happy to hear that Joshua was not a member. These whispers claimed that the new coven leader promised that Joshua would be a part of the council of the Gemini coven. Kai had made sure to make no such promises. In reality, he had only stated that his father would be available for consultation regarding the coven. Kai could understand some confusion because he had intentionally worded what he said to keep his father’s supporters slightly mollified while he further placated and persuaded his father’s dissenters to support him. Kai wasn’t sure why the older man who had tormented him his whole life was so surprised that Kai had basically retired him without his consent within the coven upon Kai’s succession.

Kai now sat at the head of a long conference table in a lackluster conference room within the Portland headquarters of the Gemini coven. Jo at his left as they discussed the mundane happenings of the coven. The current meeting that had lasted two or more hours was comprised of various members presenting proposed wedding ceremonies and witch inductions for his consideration. Kai could not care less about who wanted to marry who as long as it didn’t hurt the coven and the witches requesting admittance into the coven would be well scrutinized by him, his closest confidantes, and his council members. Kai sat with folders containing the profiles of the four couples who wanted to wed and other folders comprising the two individuals and a young family that wanted to join the coven in front of him. It was almost 8 at night and Kai was beyond tired and was certainly exasperated. After listening to his father explain why the marriage between the youngest Gore boy and the oldest Kirk girl should be approved, Kai had had enough.

Kai began shuffling papers in their corresponding folders and spoke, “I’ll sign off on what I see as acceptable and beneficial for the coven in the next day or so. By the meeting next week, you’ll have your decisions on the nuptials and new members.”

Kai looked around the conference table and asked, “Any questions?”

Kai saw a couple senior council members press their lips into thin lines but did not say anything. When no one spoke up, Kai gave a bright, forced smile and said, “Well then, everyone have a great weekend!”

As the council members stood and began to shuffle out of the room, Kai called after them cheerily, “Don’t forget to unnecessarily isolate your non-witch acquaintances, even if your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or even thrice-removed cousins beg you to be merciful to their significant others.”

Jo, who had waited behind, slapped her twin upside the back of his head when the last person left the room and closed the door.

Kai scowled at his sister, “What was that for?”

Jo rolled her eyes and replied, “Do you really have to ask?”

Kai opened his mouth to retort then realized it was a no-win situation. If he said yes, she would look at him as if he was stupid and if he said no without an explanation, she would lob questions at him ceaselessly for one reason or another. Kai decided to remain silent and finished organizing the documents into their corresponding folders.

“Kai…” Jo said.

Kai continued shuffling and stacking the folders, sighing, “Jo?”

“Have you made up with Bonnie yet?”

Kai jolted, his eyes darting to her, “What?”

Jo said, “Well, little brother-”

“By like two minutes,” Kai grumbled.

“Little brother,” Jo continued, “you obviously have a thing for Bonnie.”

Kai looked back at the heap of folders, seeming to sort them further without responding.

“I mean, the whole declaring how beautiful she was at my wedding reception kind of gave it away,” she continued.

Kai remained silent.

Jo said, “Also, you two dancing most of the night at said reception…”

“I- we were drunk,” Kai murmured, still avoiding her gaze.

“Mhm,” his twin hummed.

Kai clenched his jaw, snatched up his notepad and phone. He stacked both items on top of the pile of folders in front of him.

Kai remained silent.

“I’m just saying,” Jo said, “you haven’t been back to Virginia in a while.”

“I’ve been busy,” Kai said, standing up.

Jo followed suit and said, “You haven’t so much as mentioned Bonnie either.”

“I mean usually I can’t shut you up about her.”

Kai pushed his chair back and picked up the folders, notepad, and phone. He then frowned at Jo and said, “I do _not_ talk about her that much.”

Jo rolled her eyes and replied, “Right.”

“Of the movies you two watched over the last few months, I know which of them Bonnie likes and how she responded while watching them. In detail.”

Kai opened his mouth and Jo put up her hand and continued, “Without ever speaking to Bonnie about them.”

Kai pressed his lips together then murmured, “Fair enough.”

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but-”

“Nothing,” Kai said sharply, “Nothing happened. That’s the problem.”

He looked at Jo who had her eyebrows raised at him. He stepped around the table and walked towards the door. Jo followed him and touched her brother’s arm as he reached for the doorknob. The Gemini coven leader dropped his hand from the knob and looked at his sister.

“I don’t know what exactly happened between you two,” Jo said, “but I do know she makes you happy and she seems to care a lot about you.”

“How do you know how she feels about me?” Kai asked.

“I’ve overheard you talking to her on the phone a couple of times,” she replied.

Kai narrowed his eyes at her.

“You really shouldn’t use speakerphone for private calls, Kai,” she said lightly.

“…also, that time I walked in on you guys Skyping in your office,” Jo continued, “I may have listened for a little while before walking in.”

“You little-” Kai started.

Jo smiled and shrugged. She grasped the doorknob and opened the door. As she was exiting the conference room, she paused then turned and looked at Kai.

“I know you often feel like you don’t deserve to be happy because of your past,” Jo said, “But you do.”

Kai gave a small smile and nodded at her. Jo smiled back and left Kai in the conference room. As Kai walked back to his office to work, he considered what his sister said. He had almost told her that he knew he deserved to be happy, but then he had stopped to think about it. Hadn’t that been one of the many reasons he had refrained from sharing his feelings with Bonnie? He had ruined and taken people’s lives, but he thought he deserved a chance with her. One of the people who he had terrorized. He had thought on several occasions about whether he should just enjoy the friendship they had managed to form. He felt lucky that she even called him a friend considering their past, let alone a _boyfriend_.

Kai unlocked his office door and put the items he was holding on his desk. He plopped down into his plush leather rolling chair and spun to look out the office window. He stared out at the city lights and wondered what Bonnie was doing and how she was.

* * *

Bonnie sat on her couch holding a bowl of popcorn. She was staring out one of the windows in her apartment when she felt a tug at the bowl on her lap. She blinked rapidly, glanced at the credits rolling on the screen, and then turned in the direction of the pull.

“Earth to Bonnie,” Caroline said plucking the bowl from Bonnie’s hands. Elena, sitting on the other side of the blonde vampire, leaned forward to look at the Bennett witch.

“Are you okay?” Elena asked looking concerned.

Bonnie looked at the brunette.

“You’ve been distracted all night,” Elena continued.

“All night?” Caroline scoffed.

“More like all month,” she said eating some of the buttered popcorn.

Bonnie shifted, uncrossing and recrossing her legs, “Sorry, guys. I’ve just been…stressed about classes.”

When she saw the skeptical look on Caroline’s face, Bonnie said “It’s almost finals week and I’m just thinking about all the studying I need to do, ya know?”

Elena nodded and replied, “I get that. This girls’ night is exactly what we needed before the end of the semester chaos.”

Bonnie glanced at Caroline, who searched her face then finally said, “Yeah, okay. I can understand that. I’m about to get slammed with assignments and final projects.”

Bonnie tried not to heave a sigh of relief that her worryingly astute friend had moved on.

Caroline’s eyes became unfocused as she said, “Assignments, final projects, exams. Not to mention the rehearsing I need to do for that audition for the play…”

Caroline blinked a few times and put the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and said, “Maybe we should call it a night.”

Bonnie and Elena looked at each other amused.

“That’s a good idea, Care. Finals week is in less than a week,” Elena said.

Bonnie nodded and added, “I know you guys don’t have to sleep, but this witch needs to get some rest so I can hit the books in the morning.”

Caroline and Elena smiled at her then stood from the couch. Caroline headed towards the front door where their shoes sat nearby. Elena stretched and followed soon after. Once they had slipped their shoes on, they each hugged Bonnie.

“After finals, we definitely need to have another girls’ night. Full of alcohol and movies and more alcohol,” Caroline said.

Elena grinned, “I’m game.”

Bonnie chuckled, “For sure, Care.”

After her friends had left and she began cleaning. She emptied the bowl of leftover popcorn into the trash can and placed it in the kitchen sink. When she went to pick up the empty cans of soda, Bonnie felt a wave of sadness. She stood staring down the cans for a minute as she remembered the last time she had seen Kai. Bonnie gritted her teeth then quickly walked back to the kitchen and dropped the cans into the trash.

Bonnie shuffled back to the living room, grabbed one of the throw pillows, and dropped onto the couch. She pulled her legs up and clutched the pillow to her. She hadn’t heard from Kai since that night. Since the _I Can’t_ night. He hadn’t called greeted her with a brief ‘Good morning, Bonzai.’ He hadn’t so much as texted her a meme. Bonnie had always thought she hated the ridiculous memes he had sent her.

Sometimes it would be just a random one he found online and thought was hilarious. Every so often it would be in response to something she had texted. Sometimes it was his way of mocking the drudgery of coven business. Occasionally, it would be something that he thought she would find funny. And then there were times he would climb aboard a meme trend and send her something he had thought of in the format of said meme.

On one occasion, Bonnie complaining about Damon once again because earlier that day, she had been at Caroline and Elena’s apartment. They were sitting in the living room while Bonnie tried to help Elena study for an exam for her Introduction to Developmental Psychology class. Being extremely interested in her major, psychology, Bonnie had taken the course before. About an hour into her flipping through index cards with terms, theories, and scenarios written on them, Damon had come 30 minutes early for his and Elena’s date. He had sat scrolling through his phone as Bonnie quizzed Elena. He would occasionally give a snort of amusement without looking up when she and Elena were discussing some of the cards and tricks Bonnie used to better understand the concepts.

When Bonnie had gotten fed up with blue eyed vampire’s silent commentary, she had said, “Is there something you’d like to add, Damon?”

Damon had looked up from his phone and smirked at the young witch, “Not at all. I mean trying to pretend as if you can ever learn human behavior and thoughts is totally worth your time.”

Damon looked at Elena and continued speaking, “I just think your time could be more useful elsewhere.”

Bonnie glared at Damon and crossed her arms saying, “Oh? And where is that exactly?”

Damon flashed a bright smile to both women before looking back at Elena. He raked a heated look along Elena’s seated form then locked eyes with her and said in a low voice, “I think you can guess.”

Bonnie had been nauseated by look the couple was giving each other then decided that it was time for her to leave. She wished Elena luck on her final the next afternoon.

After texting Kai what happened, he had texted “*rickety grandpa vampire voice* why study when you can hump my ancient carcass?”

Bonnie had snorted and rolled her eyes so hard and far back into her head that she was pretty sure she got a glimpse of her frontal lobe. When she had texted back, “Why?”

Kai had responded in a series of texts.

 **Kai:** I’m what the kids call…  
**Kai:** a meme loving fuck

He followed up the last text with a picture of him making a finger gun while smiling and winking.

Bonnie hadn’t responded to those messages or contacted him the rest of that day.

Now Bonnie was sitting here wondering what memes she was missing out on because of Kai’s lack of contact. She dropped her head to her knees and murmured, “I can’t believe this.”

She sighed and lifted her head. She picked up her phone sitting beside her and searched her contacts for the coven leader’s name. This wasn’t the first time in the past month that she had done so. She had spent the last few weeks occasionally pulling up his number with a finger poised over the call icon. She always exited the contacts list without ever calling or texting him. As time passed, she had become more aware of how ingrained into her life the Kai was. She had also become aware just how much she did like and care for Malachai Parker. She had spent many nights in bed replaying the _I Can’t_ night in her head which seemed to become an entity all its own. Bonnie had since been trying to figure out how to talk to him and let him know how she felt. Logically, she knew she could just text him asking to talk on the phone or Skype. Or just call him point blank. The lack of communication wasn’t solely his fault after all. However, she also felt dread in her stomach about doing any of those things because of his outright refusal to meet with her later in the week of the _I Can’t_ night. Why would he agree to talk to her about it now?

Bonnie groaned. She decided to try to go to sleep and regroup in the morning to formulate a plan of attack for, what she liked to call, operation ‘Fix Your Fuck Up.’ She lifted her head and set aside the throw pillow. She got up from the couch and turned the lights off in the living room as she made her way to her bedroom. Once she was lying under the sheets and quilt on her bed, she turned off her bedside lamp. As with the following nights, Bonnie laid in bed for hours with her brain cycling through thoughts of her friends’ troubles, finals, and Kai.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Author's Note:** Alright y'all, so this is what happened. It seems that this will be a more than 3 part fic (I want to say 4 parts but I'm also the person who said this would be a 2 shot and look where we are now). I am so sorry. This is my first multi-chapter fic and it wasn't intended to be one. I wasn't expecting more than a 2 shot at most but here we are. I am a flawed human being and I apologize. I hope you like it even though it's shorter. Sorry for that too. I hope you enjoy it!

When Bonnie woke up, she felt jazzed and ready to implement Operation ‘Fix Your Fuck Up.’ Actually, there was no plan for her mission. However, she had made a list of things that could possibly further her cause. Well, sort of. She had made a list of things Kai liked and was trying to figure out what to do with the information. She shifted on the couch where she was in her pajamas with a notepad on her lap. She frowned at the list on the page. It mostly consisted of Kai’s favorite movies, foods, bands and musicians, superheroes, memes ( _so many memes_ , she thought in exasperation), and the occasional video game he tried to talk to her about. Bonnie wasn’t sure how any of these things were going to help her express her feelings for the coven leader. Maybe they were just things she had realized she missed about him. She huffed and reached to pick up her mug of tea from the coffee table.

Bonnie realized this would be much easier if her friends knew about her and Kai. However, she wasn’t quite ready to deal with the fallout of that revelation. She sipped her tea.

“Okay. If Elena or Caroline knew about this, what would their advice be?” she pondered aloud.

“Better yet. What would they _do_ in this given situation?” Bonnie muttered.

Elena would probably just be brave and call him. Tell him what she felt and why she had been so reluctant to share her feelings. Caroline, however, would come up with an over the top, albeit romantic, plan. She would make a show of it. Less talking and more showing. Bonnie sat her mug down and furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at her notepad. Neither of those approaches were necessarily Bonnie’s style, though. _Maybe some combination of them would work?_ she thought. An idea popped into her head and she grabbed her phone before she could talk herself out of it. She hadn’t talked to her cousin in months but she thought, just maybe, she could entrust her with this information. Bonnie scrolled through her contacts and found the name ‘Lucy’ and hit the call icon. As the phone rang, Bonnie chewed her lip, knowing that she had to catch Lucy up on a lot that had been happening in Mystic Falls.

* * *

Kai stretched his neck feeling the vertebrae pop as he did so. He took a deep breath then leaned back into his office chair and tried to make his body relax. The meeting with his father had not gone exactly as expected. In fact, it hadn’t gone as expected at all. A week ago his father had insisted on a meeting. He had come to the headquarters every day, sometimes multiple times a day, harassing the coven leader’s secretary, Mike. When Mike wouldn’t budge, Joshua had taken it upon himself to track down Kai’s personal assistant…At home. After knocking on the door at almost 11 at night, Joshua had said, “This is urgent coven business that my son must know about and I need to speak with him.”

That had been the first time Joshua had stalked his personal assistant. After a few run-ins with the former Gemini Coven leader, his personal assistant, Caitlin had finally let Kai in on what had been occurring. The PA had held off in hopes of the elder Parker backing down, but to no avail. Kai had laughed bitterly and said, “I’m not sure he understands the phrase ‘back down.’ ” Kai had told the young woman to schedule a meeting between him and his father for the following week. Specifically, for a certain time on a certain date. If his father couldn’t make it at that time, well then the matter must not be very urgent. Joshua Parker had, of course, agreed to the meeting and arrived 15 minutes early. Kai had made sure to have him sit in the waiting area the entire 15 minutes and then some.

After making the older Parker wait a little over 20 minutes, Kai had called Mike to direct his father to his office. Now, Joshua had just walked into Kai’s office and closed the door firmly behind him, he had a sour look on his face. _Good_ , Kai thought. Kai smirked and leaned back in his chair as his father sat in the seat in front of the large desk. The younger Parker gave the older man a tight smile and said, “Well?”

“Took you long enough,” Joshua huffed.

“Being a coven leader is time-consuming work,” Kai replied still smirking, “As you well know.”

“Anyway, what is this crucial coven business you’ve harassed Mike and Caitlin about,” Kai continued.

Joshua pressed his lips together in a tight line and said, “They left me no choice but to-”

“Stalk them?” Kai asked raising his eyebrows.

“I did not stalk-” Joshua tried to protest.

Kai waved his hand, interrupting Joshua, “You can call it what you want but if you harass my PA or secretary again, there will be consequences.”

His father remained silent with his face turning a deeper shade of red by the second. _What had he and Jo called that color?_ Kai thought absently. He studied his father’s face. _Something obscure_ , he thought. Kai then leaned forward and said, “Is that clear?”

Joshua’s nostrils flared and he gave a curt nod.

Kai cupped an ear with his hand and said, “I didn’t quite get that.”

Kai saw a look of hatred pass over his father’s eyes then Joshua replied, “Crystal clear.”

“I’m glad we understand each other,” he continued, “What was this important business?”

“This is about your-” Joshua waved his hand about, “tryst with the Bennett witch.”

Kai felt a mixture of slight amusement, surprise, and anger, at his father’s statement. _Does anyone even say tryst anymore?_ Kai thought.

Kai gave a harsh laugh and said, “What?”

His father frowned and spoke slowly as if the coven leader was dense, “Your involvement with Bonnie Bennett-”

“No, I got that,” Kai interrupting his father and glaring at the older man. Kai felt his anger overshadow his surprise and mild amusement.

Kai continued, “What makes you think my personal life is any of your business or the coven’s?”

Joshua replied, “I just thought I’d remind you that coven comes first. Anything involving the coven leader that may influence them is business of the coven.”

“And,” the elder Parker sneered, “If you have forgotten, I am still a part of said coven.”

“Ah yes, ‘coven comes first,’ ” Kai said.

“How did that little rule work for our family?” Kai asked.

His father’s nostrils flared.

“So,” Kai cracked the knuckles on his left hand then said, “I’m only gonna say this once. So listen very, very carefully.”

“You and your minions are to stay out of my personal life and away from Bonnie Bennett,” Kai in a firm tone.

When his father opened his mouth to speak, Kai put his hand up and said, “If you have an iota of self-preservation, you won’t say another word.”

When Joshua didn’t move, Kai made a shooing gesture and said, “Bye.”

Joshua stood and briskly exited the office.

Kai sat in silence for a minute after his father left his office. When he remembered the vibrant shade of red his father’s face turned when he was angry, particularly at Kai, he thumped his fist on the desk and muttered to the empty room, “Vermillion.”

* * *

After Bonnie got off the phone with Lucy, two hours later, she felt better about what she needed to do. During the call, her cousin had insisted in knowing the specifics of Bonnie’s situation.

“So, let me get this straight,” Bonnie heard Lucy’s voice coming from her phone.

“There’s this guy you shut down but you actually do like him and you want ideas on how to let him know that you didn’t mean it when you shut him down?” Lucy finished.

Bonnie said, “When you say it like that it sounds kind of stupid.”

“On second thought, this was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have-” Bonnie continued.

Lucy cut her off, “I’ll help…”

Bonnie clutched the phone tighter, “You will? Really?”

“But I want details,” her cousin said.

“Details?” Bonnie asked warily.

Bonnie heard her cousin’s light laughter.

“Well,” she continued, “I need to understand the situation and guy to help you, right?”

“I guess…” Bonnie said.

“So,” Lucy said, “dish!”

Bonnie tapped the speakerphone icon on her phone then sat it down on the coffee table. She then sat down on the floor and put her hand to her forehead. How much should she tell Lucy? Maybe Bonnie could tell her cousin just the bare minimum? Being vague about how and where she and Kai met was a must. She could insinuate that he’s also a student at Whitmore. Bonnie nodded to herself deciding on how to handle Lucy.

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak and was interrupted by her cousin.

“Wait.”

Bonnie heard rustling come from the speaker.

“What did your besties say about all this?” Lucy said.

Bonnie bit the inside of her cheek and was silent. There was a long pause before Lucy spoke again.

“They don’t know about this dude, do they?”

Bonnie dropped her head onto her knees and murmured, “No.”

“Ooooooh,” Lucy said and Bonnie heard her clap her hands together.

“Well now,” her cousin continued.

“Not only am I all sorts of curious, but I feel even more invested.”

Bonnie huffed laughter.

“So, who is he? Hmmm? Where did you find this guy who is so obviously stupid crazy about you?” Lucy asked,

Bonnie sighed.

“Oh! Is he like a Mystic Falls’s baddie?” Lucy continued, “Or a former baddie who’s now like a frenemy?”

“Lucy,” said Bonnie in an exasperated voice.

“Tell me,” Lucy said, drawing out the latter word.

Bonnie squeezed her eyes closed and said, “His name is Kai. I met him last year at….”

Bonnie trailed off then gave a humorless chuckle and said, “Oh man, this is…”

“This is complicated,” Bonnie finished. She closed her eyes thinking, _Oh so complicated_.

After spending almost an hour and a half telling Lucy not only about Kai and his past, in excruciating detail, Bonnie delved into the sequence of events leading her to the siphoner. Lucy had spent a long time ranting about said events, including Bonnie’s death. Although Bonnie been a little exasperated, she had also been very touched. Very cared about. Very…missed. In the short time of her cousin’s onslaught of…Bonnie thought for a minute, _Concern?_ Lucy had managed to convey her worry for Bonnie’s well-being and love for her than Bonnie’s friends had upon her eventual exit from 1994. Not to mention her cousin’s concern about her involvement with who Lucy eventually dubbed as a ‘frenemy.’

Lucy had been more than a little wary about helping Bonnie after learning about Kai’s history and their past antagonistic interactions. However feeling a little desperate, Bonnie had reluctantly told her cousin how she felt about Kai and how he made her feel. Lucy had been silent for a moment after Bonnie had finished speaking before saying, “Well for one, what you just told me you need to tell him. As for how you’ll tell him, I was thinking…”

Bonnie had given a genuine laugh interrupting her cousin. She had realized being able to share what she felt for Kai and what was going on between them made her feel lighter. As if sharing the giddiness and warmth she felt about Kai and when she was around him was freeing.

Now she was armed with a plan. A plan of consisting of romance…and memes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final part of Say You Like Me. Thank yall for coming along with me on my first multi-chapter fic. I've been afraid to doing the final part and put it off but I hope you enjoy it!

It was a little after 10 in the morning and Kai was lying on his tidily made bed with his fingers interlaced resting on his stomach and his cellphone tucked under his hands. His legs hung over the edge of the bed and his feet, clad in converse sneakers, rested flat on the floor. He was staring blankly at the ceiling. Kai was dressed in jeans and a button up shirt. The blazer he had planned on wearing to the Gemini Coven headquarters was lying abandoned on the floor. Kai had been mostly ready to head in for a day full of meetings. And more meetings. So many meetings with an hour of slight freedom for lunch and staring at his phone again to see if Bonnie had called or texted him. _Bonnie_ , he thought. 

Kai closed his eyes. He had been numbly staring at the white surface of the ceiling for a while now. The last time he lazily rolled his head to the side to glance at the clock on the nightstand, it had been 8:49. He wondered what time it was now. His phone vibrated. Kai’s eyes snapped open and he quickly held his phone over his face. He scanned the text message only to see that it was his personal assistant again. Kai went to place the phone back on his stomach when it went off again. He looked at the screen. _Are you okay?_ Caitlin had sent. Kai snorted laughter. He got another text notification. _Are you not coming in today then?_ Kai began to chuckle. The phone that he had been holding slipped and fell onto his face abruptly cutting off his laughter.

 Kai groaned as the phone slid from his face. He sat up on an elbow gingerly inspecting the damage. His cheek was probably bruised but at least it didn’t hit his eye. Something good was happening this morning. Kai flopped back down and threw an arm over his eyes. He winced when he hit his aching cheek. This morning hadn’t gone as planned. It hadn’t gone like the mornings over the past few weeks.

Kai had gotten up late as usual. Waking up 30 minutes before he was supposed to get to the Gemini headquarters. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was when Kai had finished showering and walked into his bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist that the morning had begun to go downhill. Well, there had been an upturn then a sharp decline.

When Kai had entered his bedroom and headed towards his large dresser, he saw out of the corner of his eye that the light on his phone was blinking. He had rolled his eyes and fished out boxer briefs. His PA, Caitlin, knew he was late every day. Yet every day she called and texted him to make sure he got to the office by 8:30 before the headquarters opened for business hours at 9.  The PA had told Kai that if she didn’t at least make an effort, she didn’t feel like she earned the bonuses and paid vacation days he gave her.

Kai continued ignoring his phone as he dressed. He slipped on a white t-shirt, black jeans, and a pair of high-top black chucks. He looked at himself up and down in his full-length mirror then strolled back into his walk-in closet. Kai emerged with a navy blazer hanging over to his arm. He ambled over to his nightstand and picked up his phone. Kai was about to shove the device into his back pocket but then decided he should at least give Caitlin some respite and tell her he was on his way. Kai unlocked his phone and immediately saw he had missed a call. A call from Bonnie. Kai’s heart slammed against his rib cage. She had called him 10 minutes ago and he had missed it. Kai immediately tapped Bonnie’s number. He listened to it ring three times ( _or was it two and a half?_ he thought) before it abruptly went to Bonnie’s voicemail.

Despite listening to the automated voice reciting Bonnie’s number, Kai hadn’t expected to hear the beep signaling his cue to leave a message.

He was quiet a moment then realized what the beep meant and stammered, “Uh, yeah.” 

“I just-” he hesitated.

“You called and, so,” Kai said, “I called you.”

Kai gave a short laugh and said, “And, uh, so I thought-” before the voicemail cut him off. After the line went dead, Kai pulled the phone from his ear and stared at the screen. Did she hit the ‘fuck you’ button on him? He continued to stare at the screen for a few more moments until his screen went dark. Kai then hit the power button and went to call again but his finger wavered over the screen. Maybe he should wait for her to call back. _If she called back at all_ , he thought morosely. That was when Kai dropped his blazer on the floor and laid on his bed clutching his phone.

Kai had spent what seemed like forever waiting to hear the ringtone and the text notification alerts that he had assigned to Bonnie. So he had decided that setting his phone to vibrate would be less stressful. Maybe then he wouldn’t be jumping every time he thought his phone made a sound. Wrong. Kai had then laid on his bed and occasionally feeling imagined tremors from his phone on his stomach. He was still constantly checking his phone.

 Now Kai lifted his arm from his eyes and held the offending phone back over his face to locate Caitlin’s number. He paused then sat up to finish scrolling to prevent dropping the device and further damaging to his face. The line rang barely two times before it was picked up.

 “Kai? Sir?” Caitlin’s anxious voice came through the coven leader’s phone speaker.

 “Hey, Cait,” Kai said cheerily, “How’s it hanging?”

 Maybe a little too cheerily because his PA warily responded, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

 “Nothing. I’m good. Great even!” Kai exclaimed realizing too late that he was still overdoing it.

His PA, and his closest friend, remained silent. To try to convince Caitlin nothing was amiss or to even filibuster their conversation to keep from having to talk about his morning, Kai began rambling, “I mean, I’m the all mighty leader of one of the most powerful covens on the west coast. Right?”

“I want for nothing.”

“I can just poof things into existence. Magic’s great...”

Kai paused a beat and when he was met with more silence, he kept talking, “So many uses.”

“I mean, it doesn’t even seem fair, ya know?” Kai continued.

“All I have to do is mumble some words or even just think them and-”

As if not hearing anything he said, Caitlin interrupted him and said in a firm tone, “Something’s wrong. Spill.”

Kai frowned and muttered, “Awfully mouthy for a personal assistant.”

 “Kai,” Caitlin said firmly.

 “Caitlin,” he replied in a similar tone.

 He heard her sigh into the phone. Maybe he was wearing her down and she’d leave him be.

 “What’s wrong?” the PA asked again.

Kai put her on speakerphone, laid back onto his bed, and placed the phone on his chest. He closed his eyes. She wasn’t backing down, maybe telling her nothing was wrong was too high of a goal. Caitlin often smelled his bullshit almost before it came out of his mouth. Kai furrowed his brow. He blamed her family’s psychic sensitivity for that.

“What makes you think something is wrong?” Kai said coolly.

“You called me Cait.”

Kai frowned again, “What? I didn’t-”

“You did. Not to mention you’re late-”

“I’m always late,” Kai pointed out.

“You’re late to being late,” Caitlin said.

Kai remained silent.

“You’ve also been ignoring my calls and texts,” she continued.

“Not the first time I’ve heard that from a woman,” Kai said flippantly.

Caitlin was quiet this time. He remained silent too. He could wait her out. After a little over a minute of silence, she sighed in irritation, “Are you really going to do this, sir?”

Kai didn’t speak.

“I thought we moved passed the babysitting part of my job and you had graduated to true adulthood,” she said.

That needled Kai and his PA knew referencing the passing comment made by his father early on in his tenure as the Gemini coven leader would chafe at him.

“Wow,” he huffed, “Fine.”

“I missed an important call,” Kai said in a clipped tone.

“Bonnie called?” the PA asked.

Kai said, “I didn’t say it was-”

“You didn’t have to,” Caitlin said, “I just knew.”

Kai snorted. _Damned sensitives_ , he thought.

“So why aren’t you here?” she asked, “Why are you throwing me and Mike to the sharks?”

Kai grit his teeth in irritation because pre-merge Kai wouldn’t have been affected by the question. Post-merge Kai, however, felt the need to apologize.

“I should’ve given you the go-ahead to cancel my meetings for the day,” Kai said.

Feeling guilty but with pre-merge Kai rising up and fighting for their pride, he only added, “My bad.”

The PA snorted into the phone and said, “Yeah, it _is_ your bad. I hope you get your important call.”

“Talk to you later,” Kai said before hanging up.

 

* * *

 

 Bonnie moved about her tiny motel room in Portland, inspecting it. She kicked off her sandals and plopped back onto the bed. It had been a long emotionally-exhausting day. So much happened. First, her spontaneous caffeine-fueled call to Kai which she had quickly terminated after only a few rings. Then the returned call Bonnie got from him as she sat on the plane for the second leg of her trip but had to ignore and shut off her phone for the flight. Those two flights plus renting a car to get the things Bonnie needed for her plan had drained her. By the time she had gotten checked into her motel, she was all but falling asleep on her feet.

 As she laid on the uncomfortable bed, she remembered that she had never turned her phone back on. Bonnie rolled to the side of the bed where her purse sat on the floor nearby. She blindly dug through her purse eventually nabbing her phone. Rolling to the center of the bed to rest on her back again, Bonnie powered it on. Holding the device over her face and typing in her pass code, she waited to see if she missed anymore calls from Kai or received any texts from him. Her phone dinged alerting her to a voicemail. From Kai. Bonnie felt her heart do a little skip. She wanted to play the voicemail but hesitated. It could be good or bad. Maybe he’s telling her to leave him alone. Bonnie chewed her lip then locked her phone. It was going into the evening now, maybe she’d take a nap first then listen to it. Maybe she’d feel better about playing the voicemail after some sleep. 

* * *

 Kai spent the day moping around his house carrying his phone around, checking it intermittently to see if Bonnie had called or texted. It was now late evening and he hadn’t heard from her. Maybe she had called by accident? That would explain her ignoring his returned call. Kai sighed then threw some Hot Pockets in the microwave. He sipped a beer as they warmed and thought about what he could accomplish tomorrow. I should probably get back to the headquarters and start cleaning up the mess of my sudden hiatus today, he thought. When the microwave dinged, he drained the rest of his beer. He then grabbed another beer from the fridge and pulled the plate of cheesy delights from the microwave. He carried his drink and dinner to his living room and sat the plate on the coffee table.

 Opening his laptop that rested on the sofa, Kai sipped his beer and powered up the computer. _Might as well take a look at my schedule and see what kind of damage control I can do between now and 9 tomorrow morning_ , he thought glumly.

  Bonnie’s nap turned into a deep slumber with her waking up around 4 am still wearing the clothes from the previous day in bed with all the lights on. She groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over her head. She had intended to try to fall back to sleep, lights be damned, when an idea popped into her head. Bonnie quickly sat up and grabbed her phone that was charging on one of the nightstands beside the rock solid bed. She unlocked her phone and tapped the contacts icon. She scrolled until she found Kai’s PA. Bonnie figured the sooner she contacted Caitlin, the better. Bonnie was well aware of the ridiculous time of night it was (or was it morning at this point?), so instead of calling she sent a text.

 A few months ago, Bonnie had been trying and failing to get in contact with Kai through his secretary. It had been to tell him a stupid joke but after trying to call his cell and only getting his voicemail, Bonnie tried the headquarters. Maybe his phone had died or he had a lot of meetings and just turned off his phone. However, since Kai had never mentioned her to his secretary, let alone given the secretary permission to transfer her directly to the coven leader’s office phone, Bonnie got shut down immediately. She had called no less than seven times, each time giving a bit more of her argument about why she should be forwarded to the Malachai Parker’s office phone before being hung up on again. The more she fruitlessly tried to contact the Gemini coven leader, the more determined she had become. On the eighth call, the secretary had answered saying, “If this is Bonnie again-”

 Bonnie had interjected saying, “Yes, it _is_ Bonnie again. If you don’t forward me to Kai’s phone or voicemail or whatever, I will make the fabled plagues that rained down on Egypt look like a party tri-”

 There was shuffling and murmuring then a voice cut her off, “Hello, Miss Bennett, this is Caitlin Baker. Mr. Parker’s personal assistant.”

 Bonnie had said, “Hi Caitlin, I’m guessing that our friend Mike wants you to get rid of me?”

 Caitlin laughed, “Oh, of course not! Well, actually yes but that’s not why I’m speaking with you.”

 “Mr. Parker has mentioned you to me. However, either because he hadn’t expected you to try to contact with him through the headquarters or because he was trying to be discrete, he never mentioned you to his secretary,” Caitlin said.

 Bonnie felt some of her fight leave her, she said, “Oh.”

 “Thinking about it,” the Bennett witch chuckled, “both of those actually sound like Kai.”

 After informing Bonnie of Kai’s schedule for that day, the PA had given Bonnie her contact information in case she ever needed to get in touch with the busy coven leader. When Bonnie jokingly asked if Caitlin made a habit of giving her number to everyone that Kai has ever mentioned, the PA had responded, “Well, technically yes, since Kai has ever only spoken of you by name, aside from members of the coven.”

 Bonnie had felt her face flush and chest flush. She was quiet unsure of how to respond when the PA had said to contact whenever she had problems locating her “Mr. Parker” and she would relay information when she could. Bonnie had cleared her throat and thanked Caitlin before ending the call.

 Now after months of gradually increasing communication, Bonnie and Caitlin were friends of sorts. Though, she still felt bad contacting the PA so late, it needed to be done.

 Bonnie sent a text saying, “I need to know Kai’s schedule for today. Possibly tomorrow. Can you let me know when you get the chance?”

 While she waited for a response, she hopped in the shower. Emerging from the steamy room, feeling refreshed Bonnie dug through her luggage trying to decide what to wear. Was it too early to dress for the day or could she get away with pajamas for a while? She decided on sweatpants and a sports bra. Pajamas it was. With her hair wrapped in a towel, she climbed onto the bed, snagging her phone along the way, and leaned against the headboard. She had three texts and a missed called from Caitlin. Bonnie gave a small smile wondering if this is what Caroline would be like as a personal assistant to someone.

 Bonnie ignored the texts deciding to just call the Gemini woman back. After a few rings, Bonnie thought that the PA may have gone back to bed. However, on the fifth ring, Caitlin picked up.

 “What are you doing up?” Bonnie asked.

 “What am I doing up?” Caitlin asked incredulously, “What are you doing calling me before the sun rises?”

 “What happened to the whole I can contact you when I needed a certain person’s location?” Bonnie teased.

 Bonnie heard shuffling over the phone as Caitlin gave a short laugh.

 “Speaking of a certain person…” the PA said, “Explain.”

 Bonnie questioned shifting on the bed, “Explain?”

“Explain,” Caitlin repeated before audibly making a sipping sound.

 “Are you drinking coffee?” Bonnie asked, “Or tea?”

 “Are you Kermitting me?” Bonnie asking jokingly.

 “Are you deflecting?” Caitlin replied smoothly.

 “No,” Bonnie replied quickly.

 “Yes?” she sighed, “It’s 50/50.”

 “We’ll talk about my 4 am beverage of choice in a moment,” Caitlin said, “Explain.”

 Bonnie chewed her lip then said, “Could you be a bit more specific?”

 “Bonnie!” Caitlin exclaimed.

 “Fine!” Bonnie replied.

 “I need Kai’s schedule for today and tomorrow because…” Bonnie trailed off.

 Caitlin remained silent.

 “Well, I’m in town and I was gonna-,” Bonnie started before Caitlin cut her off.

 “You’re in Portland?” the PA asked.

 “Well, yeah and-” Bonnie began again.

 The PA spoke over Bonnie, “And you didn’t tell me you would be in town, why?”

 “It was kind of a spur of the moment-ish thing.”

 “Does Kai know you’re here?” Caitlin asked then she gave a little laugh, “Of course he doesn’t.”

 “Or else he wouldn’t have been acting like that yesterday,” she finished.

 “Like what?” Bonnie inquired.

 Caitlin sighed and said, “Let’s just say him missing your call and you not calling back didn’t sit well with him.”

 “He’s fine,” the PA rushed to add, “Though, his…erratic behavior yesterday makes knowing his schedule more than a little difficult today.”

 “Oh,” Bonnie said in a small voice. If she couldn’t figure out where to find him, this wouldn’t work at all.

 “But,” Caitlin drawled, “You obviously came here with a plan, Bennett.”

 “So let me hear it and I can figure out how to get Kai where you need him,” she said.

 Bonnie smiled and laughed, “You’re awesome! Thank you, Cait!”

 “Yeah, yeah,” the PA said, “Details, please.”

 Bonnie took a deep breath then let it out and said, “I have a plan but don’t laugh…”

 Caitlin began giggling and said, “Oh, this is going to be absolutely amazing, isn’t it?”

* * *

 Bonnie and Caitlin spent the morning figuring out how to implement the Bennett witch’s undertaking, so called ‘Fix Bonnie’s Fuck Up.’ Bonnie had wanted to surprise Kai. Ideally, she wanted to do it at his house, though if not possible, she could try to execute her plan at the Gemini corporate headquarters. When she explained to Caitlin her plan and the ideal setting but how she lacked a way to get into the coven leader’s residence, Caitlin drove to her motel room to give her the keys she had to Kai’s house. After assuring the PA that Bonnie didn’t need to help her because she needed Caitlin to get Kai to come home and her absence would be noticed, the PA had reluctantly left Bonnie’s motel room. The Bennett witch double-checked her rental car to make sure everything she needed was there and then drove to Kai’s house set on the outer limits of Portland.

 Once Bonnie had things set up to her liking, she texted Caitlin that she was ready and to get Kai to come back home. Bonnie sat on Kai’s couch vigorously bouncing her leg, when she received a text from Caitlin that read, “The package has been delivered.”

 Bonnie had laughed then checked her preparations. Not for the first time, she wondered just how much she cared for the Gemini coven leader to be staging such a ridiculous and embarrassing apology and declaration of feelings.

 Kai had been suspicious when Caitlin suggested that he take the rest of the day off and get some rest. She had said that he looked exhausted and wouldn’t be of much use if he was focusing on staying awake instead of the happenings of meetings. Kai was never one to shoot down opportunities to get out of the mind-numbing meetings he constantly had to endure but it was something about the way she looked when she had said it. It wasn’t her usual sympathetic, joking, or even exasperated look she gave him when she had felt he overextended himself. Caitlin looked a little too mischievous for his liking, though that could just be the sleep deprivation.

 As Kai drove home, he thought of the missed call from the day before. Her missed call. Bonnie had never called back. If this wasn’t the era of touchscreen and passcode locked phones, he would’ve assumed it was a butt dial. However, he knew Bonnie. She locked her phone as soon as she was done using it even if she knew she would need it in another minute or two. Bonnie Bennett liked her privacy. So she had called but now he just had to figure out why.

 When Kai pulled into his driveway not bothering to open the garage and pull his car into it. He climbed the couple of steps of his porch to his front door and went to unlock it. The deadbolt knob was unlocked, which wasn’t strange. He often only engaged the knob lock when he was in a rush. However, that was unlocked as well. Kai tilted his head and tried to listen for sounds from the other side of the door. When he heard nothing, he turned the knob and pushed the door open prepared to throw a spell at someone.

 Kai opened the door to something he couldn’t quite comprehend what he was seeing. The notion of being ready to magically attack whatever threat that came his way vanished. There were pictures floating in the air and littering his living room floor. Kai shut the door behind him and cautiously walked a few steps to look at a floating picture. He wasn’t sure if he should be amused or terrified. The floating picture was of Pepe the frog. The frog smiled demurely at him. Or maybe it was that an impish, knowing smile? Kai shook his head. He was thinking way too much into this. He then stooped to pick up a picture from the floor and again it was Pepe. However, the cartoon frog looked somber. The solemn look on the meme’s face made Kai wary.

 Kai licked his dry lips then made slow, deliberate steps further into his living room. After maybe half a dozen small steps, a giant banner unfurled from the ceiling. Kai almost ignited it after being startled by the _flump_ of it suddenly unrolling. The text on the large banner read, “TFW when he says he likes u and u like him too but u panic and act like u lost ya mind so he says deuces and u come to ur senses”

 A few moments later, a secondary banner dropped from the first one. It showed the caveman SpongeBob SquarePants meme. The situation was feeling more and more surreal to Kai. He had begun wondering if he had been in a car accident on his way home and was experiencing some trippy coma, when a figure crept from behind the SpongeBob banner. His breath caught. Bonnie. She had a shy smile on her face and was slowly approaching him. When she was standing directly in front of him, Bonnie hesitantly took his hands in hers. She looked down at their joined hands for a moment then looked into Kai’s eyes. She averted her gaze and let out a breath. She then looked back into his blue-gray eyes and spoke.

 “Kai, I…” Bonnie stammered.

 Kai felt his heart flutter in his chest. He loved hearing her say his name but he said nothing. He continued looking into her forest green eyes.

 “I mean,” she continued closing eyes and taking a deep breath. On the exhale she opened her eyes and said, “Hey bro.”

 Kai had a great poker face, he had learned to hide his emotions and to crush them early in life but hearing Bonnie say that particular greeting was completely unexpected.

 He huffed out a laugh and replied, “What?”

 “Hey bro,” Bonnie repeated, staring more intently into his eyes.

 Kai searched her face then looked around the room. A common theme revolving around all of the items and what she had said. Upon realized that them and that she wanted him to respond in this theme, Kai forced the smile from his face.

 He looked into Bonnie’s eyes while running his thumbs over her hands and replied, “Yeah, bro?”

 Bonnie then said, “I wanna live in your socks.”

 

Kai closed his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek. He opened his eyes then saying, “Why, bro?”

 “So I can be with you every step of the way,” the Bennett witch said with a serious look on her face.

 Kai smiled and sniffled as he put a hand to his chest, saying “Oh my god, bro.”

 Bonnie was smiling tentatively and looking at him with anxious eyes. So he said, “You sure made this a memeingful day,” and kissed her softly.

* * *

 Later after they talked more seriously and were cuddling on his gigantic couch, Kai asked Bonnie about her preparations and how she executed her plan. How did she get into his house? He asked. How did she get there period? How long had this been planned? She had just smiled and wiggled her fingers saying, “Hello, I’m mega powerful.” He laughed. 

 Kai had opened his mouth to ask another question and Bonnie told him no more questions for the night. In which Kai replied, “One last question about this whole thing and I’ll let it go…for this visit.”

 Bonnie sighed and said, “Shoot.”

 “You called the other day,” Kai said, “Why?”

 Bonnie tucked her face into the crook of his neck and mumbled an unintelligible response. Kai said into her hair, “Well, I’m sure the skin people of Neckville of located in the land of Kai appreciated that answer, however we of Eartown are still in the dark.”

 Bonnie laughed into his neck, smacked his chest and softly said, “I wanted to see if you would even answer my calls. If I just was wasting my time.”

 “Oh, Bon,” Kai said, kissing her hair, “Of course you’re wasting your time.”

 Bonnie lifted her head and looked at him dismayed. “I mean why would a Bennett witch, who’s a 25 out of 10 slum it with a 24.9 out of 10 Gemini coven leader?” Kai asked.

 Bonnie dropped her head to his chest giggling. Kai kept speaking, “I mean, you’re really lowering your standards, Bennett. Talk about wasting your time.”

 Bonnie lifted her head to look at the smirking man who had miraculously captured her heart. She put a hand to his face and kissed him. She kissed along his jaw then smiled against his ear and said, “You’re rarer than any Pepe out there.”

 Bonnie heard Kai snort then he pulled her close as he continued chuckling. At one point he caught his breath and said, “Meme overload,” before dissolving into a fit of laughter again.

 When his laughter died down, Bonnie scrutinized him then asked, “Where did that bruise on your cheek come from?”

 The remainder of Kai’s chuckling stopped and he looked at Bonnie sheepishly saying, “Okay, don’t laugh…” 


End file.
